


Flower crowns and such

by orphan_account



Category: Purple Hyacinth (Webcomic)
Genre: Flower Crowns, Flower Symbolism, Gen, Post-Season/Series 01, William being dragged into doing chores for elderly ladies, heavy-handed symbolism, made-up holiday
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-02
Updated: 2020-05-10
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:28:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23953066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: A flower festival - a holiday celebrated in Ardhalis at the beggining of the January, when everything is frozen, that serves as amemento of the past summers and hope for the summers that shall come. And a reminder of the fact that no winte lasts forever.And on the eve on such holiday, when the streets flood with flowers real and fake, Kieran finds himself  leaving work with a coworker from the precinct - just not the one he originally had in mind.Or basically a random snippet of Kieran's life as an archivist of the precinct and his relationship with others.
Relationships: Lauren Sinclair/Kieran White
Comments: 24
Kudos: 115





	1. Flower crowns...

Kieran locked the archive door and whistling, he turned around leaving the archive behind him. The empty hall leading to the archives looked creepy at night to most people but not to him. But then again, it would take much more than an empty hall to frighten him.

That night he finished later than others, making sure he was the last one at the archives. There were two reasons for this. The first – and less pleasant one, but alter all the core reason he was there in the first place - was that he needed to do some private snooping for the Phantom Scythe, which was easier done without the other archivist, namely Mrs Beramont looking over his shoulder. The other one was that on his way he would accidentally bump into Lauren, who was supposed to finish an hour ago but as he knew by now had the habit of staying approximately an hour overtime - you know the normal and completely innocent meetup followed by "Oh officer, are you headed home too? Well, let me accompany you. The streets can be dangerous at night".

He could see her face right in front of him right now, rolling those golden eyes of hers. Yes, she'll hate it. But it was a normal request so she could not refuse. And then on the walk, he could discuss his last report for the Phantom Scythe with her. Or invite her for a late coffee.

_No, let’s not get ahead ourselves, Kieran. That’s too ambitious._

The archivist sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

He and Lauren made their peace - mainly because they had to - in the first week since he started working in the office. Well, more than that - Lauren even went as far as to apologize for the incident in the cave.

"I was a hypocrite," she said and even without her abilities, Kieran could see she meant it. He apologized too – mainly for threatening her, but also for the murders – but he didn’t feel like she completely accepted his apology.

And ever since then their relationship seemed to get on the old tracks - maybe a bit more distant than before. Kieran knew he should have liked it that way, no prying questions, no ties too tight so it would hurt if they severed – but it still bothered him.

As he neared the closed doors to the office of the patrol unit, his steps slowed down, almost subconsciously until he stopped completely in front of the door.

_Nothing suspicious to see here._

“Nooo, Williamme, don’t leave! Why are you doing this to me!” a distinct dry of one Kym Ladell echoed through the hall.

“Common, Kym the only person doing anything to you is yourself,” came a dry tired reply.

“You had that paperwork on the desk since Monday. _Previous_ Monday. It’s only your fault you let it rot for two weeks.”

“I was busy Williamme! I. Was. Busy!”

“Doing what exactly? Dreaming about watermelon?” the door swung open as Will Hawkes, the Lieutenant of the eleventh precinct stepped out of into the corridor, head still turned to his colleague.

“And don’t want to hear you passed the work to Lauren, got it?” he raised a warning finger at her and turned around almost bumping into Kieran.

” Oh, Hi Kieran! Didn’t see you there.”

Kieran smiled and produced a semi-serious salute.

“Lieutenant.”

William sighed.

“No need to be so formal. Please, just call me William.”

“No, Kiki, call him by his real name!” Kym cried from behind his back.

“The prince of traitors and the duke of cowardice. The slayer of free time, who lets his friends down in their time of need!”

“Sergeant, good evening to you too,” Kieran replied, tactfully ignoring the request. Behind William’s back, he could see Lauren was still sitting there behind her desk, focused on some paperwork. Her hair fell lose around her face, pale with the lack of sleep. She looked tired, but it didn't seem like she was going home soon either.

_Shit did he miscalculate?_

William rolled his eyes at Kym but then he noticed the coat in Kieran's hands.

"You're headed home?" he asked.

“Hopefully,” Kieran replied.

“You too?”

He addressed the question to William, but his eyes strayed back to Lauren. The red-haired officer just flipped through the pages of her report not lifting her gaze.

“Yes, I’m going,” William replied, “Lauren you should too.”

"Nah, I have still some work to do," a reply as matter-of-factly as it could be, "And so does Kym.”

The Sergeant frowned at her friend and then fell on her desk dramatically.

“You too, Brutus? Shall no one help this troubled soul?” she moaned, but then sprang up struck by a new idea.

“Kiki, you’re archivist, can you-”

“-And that would be all," Will cut her off, reaching for the door," Good night Lauren. _Good night_ Sergeant Ladelll!”

He shut the door behind him quickly, ignoring the loud protests and a thud as something - possibly a paperweight – hit the door from the other side.

"Very mature," he mumbled under his breath and turned to Kieran.

"Hey, since you're going home, let me accompany you for a while."

Kieran wanted to protest, but no liable excuse came to his mind.

“Sure why not?" he gave up at last.

_His talk with Lauren would have to wait._

***

“By the way, I’m sorry about that whole scene,” William smiled at Kieran apologetically as both men made their way to the stairs.

“Kym may be a good patroller and the best shot at the precinct, but as soon as it comes to paperwork, she starts acting like a toddler.”

Kieran nodded understandably.

“That would certainly explain a certain aspect of the reports she hands in.”

“Oh, you mean the little animals she draws at the side of the page?” Will asked.

“Yeah, those are pretty… terrifying. I mean if she at least knew how to draw them...”

Kieran shrugged.

"It provides a sort of distraction from the daily routine," he admitted.

_Not to mention reading any report that does not involve a description of a bloody murder or instructions on how to commit said murder was already an improvement to his usual tasks._

William grimaced.

“You say that now. Wait till you have the first nightmare about an egg-headed raccoon.”

He sighed and turned back to Kieran.

“But putting Kym’s questionable art skills aside, how do you like the work so far?”

“It’s… quite nice, actually,” Kieran said and to his own surprise, he meant it. The work itself was simple if not tedious at times – check a report, file a report, organize a shelf, archive a file, retrieve a file… - but people themselves were nice and - no matter how cheesy it may have sounded - fun. Hecould imagine living like this for real - a clean simple job, filled with distant chatter, the scent of coffee and old paper...

_Near Lauren..._

Kieran took a sharp breath.

_Alright, that was overboard._

Will nodded.

"That's good to hear," he said, " And what about old mother Bear? Isn't she giving you a hard time?"

“Mama B- Oh you mean Mrs Bearmont,“ Kieran recalled the face of the head archivist of the precinct.

”If by the hard time you mean she slaves me day and night, then no. But if you mean that...”

“She’s trying to set you on a date with one of the many, many, no doubt astonishing bachelorettes she knows,” Will concluded. “Yes, that.”

Kieran nodded with a sigh. On the first day of work he made a mistake of admitting to the old lady he was in fact not in a relationship - actually, she dragged that information out of him using techniques that made him certain she was indeed a secret service agent - and since then she would not stop ouw-ing and ouch-ing over his singleness as well as suggesting - with no subtlety or restrain - potential dates. That reminded him he had to make a pretty believable story for when she’ll ask about his date on Monday.

_Wonder if Lauren would be willing to help. But most probably not._

Will understood Kieran’s pained expression in his own way and patted him on the back sympathetically.

“It happened to all of us at one point,” he said, “Well except Kym, but she and Bearmont have a.. specific relationship. A word of advice – just nod and ignore most of what she's saying. Most importantly, don’t let her _actually set you up_ on a date. She is a sweet lady, but she tends to be too optimistic about people, which makes her a terrible judge of character.”

 _You have no idea_ , Kieran thought for himself before realization struck him.

 _Wait,_ everyone _except Kym?_

“You mean... Grumpy Cat too?” he asked.

“Yes. Three times. And even after he made the girls cry. As I told you -she’s way too optimistic about people. After you,” William opened the door, letting Kieran walk out first.

Both men stepped out of the building into the cold streets

The winter air brushed against Kieran’s face and the archivist stopped for a moment, looking up to the street, that in those few hours he was locked in the archive changed completely.

When Kieran left for lunch during his afternoon break, the streets of Ardhalis were nothing but winter wasteland of stone and metal. But now, in the light of the street lamps, they _bloomed_. Every corner, every window and every balcony was overflowing with lavish flower bouquets pink, red and yellow, wreaths hang above the doors and on the walls, garden-like sceneries filled the displays of shops. Flower garlands – purple, white and green twisted around the city lamps and hung from invisible string stretching across the street. Every door had a flower or even an entire arch build around it, the shop displays were full of greenery, proudly set up by the owners. The better half of the flowers were just paper replicas, but some were genuine flowers- some winter-blooming ones - winter jasmine, witch hazel, camellias, primroses and wallflowers, some more expensive and exotic were obviously shipped from flower shops and special farms from the south. A wild garden in the heart of winter city.

“Quite a sight isn’t it,” Will noted when he noticed Kieran taking in the view.

“People honestly outdid themselves this year. Common, let’s go before I freeze here.”

***

“By the way, I was wondering, our precinct is not going to participate in the festival?” Kieran asked as they headed down the street and motioned with his head towards the building of the APD, the only one bare of any flowers.

“No," William replied. “The official statement is that the police force should be an image of sobriety, professionalism and impartiality. No place for flowers.”

“Not even in the office?”

“You can have flowers - on your desk at least. But the only people who even use that opportunity are Miss Lila and me. And Kym…" William’s face obtained that odd greyish hue that appeared whenever he was talking about the Sergeant’s antics. “She brings watermelons and claims it counts as flower decoration because “it used to be a flower once”.”

Kieran burst out laughing, half at the expression the Lieutenant was making, half at the image of the Sergeant’s desk bending under the weight of several large watermelons, defending her fortress like a fallen pirate queen.

“Well, she’s not wrong technically speaking," he said swiping down an imaginary tear.

William shot him a murderous glare.

"Don't tell her that. She doesn't need any more encouragement. It’s enough that Lauren-“

"Excuse me, gentlemen," a crotchety voice interrupted him.

Both men turned around, to see an elderly looking woman in no doubt expensive but hideous clothes standing behind them, kneading her hands.

“You seem like decent folk, " she said, her lively eyes jumping from one guy to the other. " Can I ask for a small favour?”

***

The said small favour turned out to involve four large baskets of flowers and leaves, several branches, two wreaths, scissors, rope and a ladder. And a hollow arch which the said flowers and branches need to be attached to.

"I'm so sorry," the woman explained to them in a tone which made it obvious she was far from feeling any remorse.

“This whole thing was supposed to be done already, but those idiotic florists brought the wrong flowers – _daisies_ as if I had anything to do with those ugly things – and before I finally got through their thick skulls and made them bring what I asked, it was too late. My servants went home and my son, that good-for-nothing ungrateful child went drinking and I’m too old to do this on my own and-”

"Rest assured, lady, we will gladly help you," William stopped her rant as politely as possible.

The woman’s face brightened.

“Thank, you, thank you!" she clasped her hands.

"Well, I'll leave you to it then!"

And with that, she vanished into the warm comfort of her house.

William shook his head and turned to Kieran.

“Now, do you have any idea how to do this?"

***

In the end, the whole process did not prove to be as complicated as William seemed to have feared. They put the branches and other greenery up quite quickly and then only went on putting in flowers.

As they soon figured out, Kieran was far better at the whole arranging while balancing on the ladder business, so he was the one who ended up on the ladder while William demoted himself to work on the ground.

"Hope your evening plans are not ruined by this," he said as he passed Kieran another yellow rose.

“Not really,” Kieran replied.

In reality, he had to finish the report for Phantom Scythe, but that had time for tomorrow. Not to mention he wanted to go through certain details as to what to include in it with Lauren first.

He hesitated for a moment, studying the yellow rose in his hand.

“I’d really like to know who chose these flowers though,” he admitted.

“Seems like a perfectly healthy flower to me," William said.

"But wait doesn't a yellow rose mean something, like shamelessness or..."

"Infidelity," Kieran replied.

"Ad these," he pointed to orange and pink cyclamens on the side of the arch, mean separation. These small ones tied to the lilies are impatiens – meaning is quite obvious, and the orange lilies themselves mean pride and hate. And then carnations," he scoffed.

"The red ones are fine, but the yellow ones – rejection and disdain. And the stripped ones,” a wry smile appeared on his face.

“Well, those just mean _no_.”

Will chuckled.

Kieran raised a brow at him.

“Don’t mock me, Williame, flower meaning is serious business.”

“Oh, no,” William replied, still smiling, “nothing of sorts. you just… reminded me of someone I knew for a moment.”

The smile got replaced by a weary sigh as he turned his attention back to the flowers. He mumbled something under his breath, but Kieran didn't hear.

_Was it I wish he could see?_

“Excuse me?” Kieran asked.

“Oh, nothing!” William looked up energetically, crossing his arms on his chest.

“Speaking of childhood friends, I was meaning to ask you… what is going on between you and officer Sinclair?"

Kieran blinked slowly.

_She almost arrested me for a double murder and then I almost killed her but then we made a deal to overthrow the leader of the Phantom Scythe so we have been running around the town for the last month and a half catching members of that organization and questioning them whilst doing a huge favour to the police department, which, may I add went completely unappreciated by your higher-ups. Quite rude considering how much energy and time not to mention injuries the whole process cost us, and I’m even talking about Officer Sinclair’s dignity as she had to go undercover in the most hideous maid outfit immaginable and then almost broke her ankle as she had to make an improvised escape from our last mission, and then I carried her home for reasons I myself cannot phantom and she stayed the entire night and thank God I can keep up a poker face, no matter what Belladonna says, because she was unbearably attractive standing there just in my shirt and it would so easy to slip back then, and I thought we started opening to each other a bit and it made me quite happy, but then I went and broke her trust by murdering every suspect we caught on orders of that monster who molded me into his image and she attacked me for that and called me a monster which was too honest of a statement given her then state of hypocrisy and I threatened her like a monster I am and she left but do not worry, we made amends, mainly because we had to, because now we work under the same roof and have a common goal, and we still had to go to the Crimson Camelia together, which proved completely pointless, but at least there were no casualties, and she agreed to cooperate but she still won’t look me in the eye when we meet to discuss plans and it hurts more than it ever had a right to._

“Officer Sinclair? I’m sorry, but I don’t think there’s anything worth speaking of, “ he replied almost instantly and returning his attention to a rather rebellious set of leaves.

William scoffed.

“Alright, let me rephrase that - are you interested in Lauren?”

_Wait, is this what it's all about?_

_Fuck, when did he notice?_

_Fuck, did Lauren notice?_

_Why do you care, idiot?_

The four thoughts crashed into each other in Kieran's mind with enough ferocity to make him lose balance for a moment.

“Suppose I am,” he said diplomatically, hoping William wouldn’t notice the small stumble.

“Would that be a problem?" he asked. "Will I get big brother talk? Something along the lines of “if you ever touch her I breaks your kneecaps”?”

Kieran looked down on William, hoping the other man took it as a joke, but he looked at William, he met with stone face expression.

“I wonder about that,” William said as if he was really considering it. But then he smiled and leaned against the wall his hand in his pockets.

“Nah, I’m just kidding. Lauren is her own boss I have no business meddling with her love life. Though I should give you a fair warning. Lauren is not the type you can easily win over.”

Kieran smiled under his breath.

“I noticed that much, Lieutenant.”

“No, I mean it. She’s not… a dating type. Just ask anyone in the precinct. You can’t buy her with normal gifts or sweets and she won’t be impressed by pretty words. She especially hates when people call her eyes pensive, so please, for the sake of the whole department – don’t do that. But what she hates most of all, is when people lie to her to make themselves look better. She can somehow always tell that.”

William uncrossed his arms and look straight at Kieran.

“So, no matter what you do, do not ever try to deceive her.”

Kieran nodded.

“Or you break my kneecaps, right?"

“I’m pretty sure Lauren would beat me to it,” William replied.

“But then again…” he added after a moment of contemplation, “there are other more than two hundred bones in the human body, which more than enough material for me and Kym to work with.”

He laughed and gave Kieran pat on the back strong enough to make the other man stumble.

“You know, I think we did a good job with this," he looked up at the arch." Well, you did anyway. Let’s call that lady to look and then go home. It’s getting late.”

***

Five minutes later, the duo was making their way down the street with a basket of fresh flowers in hand.

The good thing was the lady of the house was entranced by the arch. The not bad, but odd thing for sure was the way she decided to reward them.

“Just take them!” she basically shoved the basket of daisies she had got from the florists by mistake.

"I have no use for them anyway. But such talented lads as yourselves could certainly find a use for them!”

"What a fancy way to make people take out your trash," William noted as they left the house

behind.

"At least they look nice."

They reached the end of the street and stopped at the crossroad.

“Well, I suppose this is where we part,” said Will.

"Be careful on your way home.”

"Wouldn't like to break anything before Lauren gets to it. Got it, " Kieran replied.

"Good night Lieutenant."

Will opened his mouth to protest to the name again, but then only sighed in resignation.

"Well good night, Mr White."

Kieran watched as the blond disappeared behind the next corner.

Will's words were still playing in his head. It was nice to see how genuinely Lauren’s friends cared for her. It almost made him envious. Almost.

He breathed out a small cloud of warm air and watched as it flew to the sky, above the flower garlands and roofs of the city.

He wasn’t sure if it was necessarily a good idea that he told will about his feeling towards Lauren, but it made him feel... better. Somehow lighter. Or perhaps it was thefact that Will accepted it rather calmly and without any fuss.

 _Well, he would react differently if he knew your true identity, Hyacinth, a_ small voice in the darkness of his mind pointed out.

_Broken bones would be the last of your problems._

“Uh, sir?”

A soft tug on the sleeve of his coat broke off the dark thoughts. He turned around. Next to him stood a little girl, no older than nine years old. Her eyes as big as flowerpots fixed on him in a mix of fear and curiosity.

“Uhm, sir?” she asked again, “do… do you need those flowers for something?”

Kieran lifted the basket in his hands.

“Oh, these?”

The girl nodded shily. She was quite thin, with darker skin and a mess of black hair up to her waist. She wore a coat about two sizes too big on her, probably passed down from an older sibling or another relative.

Kieran kneeled down next to her.

“Do you want some, princess?” he asked kindly.

The girl nodded again, this time more eagerly.

“That is. Unless you need them for something sir,” she added quickly.

“If you need them for your house...”

Corner’s of Kieran’s mouth eased into a warm smile.

“No, quite the opposite,” he replied, “I was looking for someone to give it too.”

A small white lie, but nothing harmful.

The girl’s eyes lit up as she heard it.

“Thank you, sir!”

“Can I take some too?" another child popped out of nowhere, no doubt a friend of the girl that had been thus far hiding and waiting to see how the whole situation would turn out.

“Me too!”

“Me too!”

In a moment, a small group of kids, all dressed in worn-out clothes formed around Kieran, jumping on the spot and outstretching their hands in hopes of getting a flower.

“Sir, can I have some too?”

“Me too sir!”

“I want them for my mum!”

“Me too!”

"Hey, kids, one by one!" Kieran laughed.

"It's a big basket there's enough for everyone!"

Five minutes later the basket was practically empty and six happy children were going on their merry way, happily clinging to their small treasure.

Three kids stayed however, - two girls and a boy - and watched Kieran as if he was to perform a magic trick.

He shrugged and turned the empty basket upside down.

"Sorry, I don't have more," he said.

A dark-haired girl - the first one to approach him - shook her head.

“You made that arch there, right?” she asked, pointing to the other end of the street.

“Yes, I did it with… a friend of mine,” Kieran nodded.

“So you know how to tie flowers? So they look nice. Like a wreath or… a crown,” the girl looked to the grown shily as if embarrassed of what she'd say next.

Luckily, the boy next to her spoke for her.

“Can you show us how to do it, Sir?”

Kieran blinked.

“I suppose I can,” he started looking around for a good place to sit.

“Alright come here,” he sat down on the stairs to the closest house and motioned at the kids to join him.

"It's not too hard, just watch carefully, okay?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I imagine Kym's drawing skills are something akin to sophism's when she draws animals. I could be wrong though.  
> I don't know if William knew Dylan, but just for now imagine he did.  
> I'm also pretty sure that I wrote Kieran a bit too ooc, so I hope you don't mind, dear reader.  
> Thats all.  
> Thanks for reading and have a nice day :)


	2. ....and such

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have my regrets regarding the title.

“Finally! Freedom at last!” Kym shouted at the top of her lungs as she burst through the door of the precinct onto the night street.

“Watermelons here I come!”

“Quiet, you’ll wake up the whole town,” Lauren walking a few steps behind warned her.

“Sure sure,” the Sergeant waved her off and jumped down from the stairs in the middle of the now-empty street.

“Holy Mother…” she whistled appreciatively, “Looks like a carnival in here!”

Lauren didn't reply, instead, she stopped at the end of the stairs, silently admiring the scenery. She had seen the flower decorations from the window of the office, but she truly got to get it all in just now. The vibrant colours of the flowers were a bit skewed by the light of the street lamps, but it took nothing from the beauty of it all – flowers cascading from window and balconies climbing up the walls and lamposts...

 _Dylan would love it,_ a small voice in her mind said. That thought alone was enough to dye her mood black.

She sighed and ran her hand through her hair.

 _Yes, he would,_ she thought as she stepped across the street towards Kym.

“You know I never really got why we need a flower day in the middle of the winter,” Kym said, “but it sure is pretty.”

"And good enough excuse to bring a watermelon into the office," added Lauren.

Kym giggled.

“Yes, and good enough reason to bring watermelons and screw with William's head.”

She smiled viciously.

“The revenge is going to be sweet.”

“You’re still angry he didn’t help you with those reports?” Lauren asked.

"No, it’s more that he made me do it _today_. I still had time till tomorrow you know," she winked at Lauren, but then her smirk turned into a conspiratory frown.

"Oh, do you think he did it on purpose? To make me work late so I won’t make it in time to the greengrocer’s?”

“Maybe,” Lauren replied with a shrug. William was an honest man and a gentleman, but she wouldn’t put it past him.

Kym’s face darkened a bit.

“That little bastard…”

“Hey, calm down," Lauren patted her friend on the back.

“You can still buy them tomorrow. You won't have anything to carry the melons in any way.”

“ **I can carry them in my hands.** I’m a strong woman,” Kym replied, but the lie in her voice made it obvious even she did not think it through. She must have noticed from Lauren’s expression she’d been busted though because she quickly changed the topic.

"Speaking of big plans for tomorrow, what do you do after work?” she asked, turning to Lauren.

“I have a meeting,” Lauren replied vaguely.

_No need to specify._

Unfortunately, Kym seemed to be of a different opinion.

“A romantic meeting?”

“What?”

“A date, Lauren! Are you going on a date?”

Lauren hesitated. Meeting with Kieran was more work than anything else, ~~no matter how she grew to like bickering with him~~ , but it would be odd to say that to Kym. She also couldn’t say it was a meeting with a family member since the only person who fit that category was uncle Tristan and he would be working late tomorrow. A meetup with an old friend? Bad idea, Kym might check with Will and Will knew all of her old friends from school.

Kym took her silence as a sign of confirmation.

“So it is a date! Was it old Bearmont’s idea? Oh, do I have to come by and save you like the last time?”

Lauren laughed and shook her head.

“You couldn’t save me from this one, trust me. And no, strangely enough, it is not one of Mother Bear's bachelors.”

Kym let out a relieved breath as they turned the corner.

“Phew, that was close. Oh, look," she shouted," that arch looks like - Kieran! And Lora?”

“What?” Lauren looked up looking for the suspicious flower decoration.

“Not there! There!” Kym grabbed Lauren by the chin and turned her face to the street on their left.

Lauren stopped, all surprised by the image in front of her.

On the stone stairs of a house, were three kids dressed in muddy clothes just sitting and playing. And among them - Kieran. He didn’t wear his glasses and his coat was unbuttoned, making him look much more like his un-archivist self. His hair, normally tied up for work were now loosely hanging around his face as one of the kids – a girl with a flower crown in her hair standing behind him – was playing with it, eyes crossed in concentrations as she tried to create a hairdo far to complex for her skills. 

Another girl was leaning against Kieran's shoulder, half asleep, the crown on her head set askew. The third child – a boy just a year or two younger than the hairdresser girl - sat in front of Kieran. He was wearing that serious expression of full dedication only children can produce as he struggled to put the flowers together in a circle.

“Now, you twist it over and tie the knot,” Kieran calmly instructed the boy.

“Yeah, just like that.”

The boy let out a breath and raised his crown above his head. The hairdresser stopped for a moment, to clap.

“You see you can do it!” she laughed, waking up the slumbering girl for a moment.

“It’s not as pretty as yours, though,” the boy said a bit sulkily to the dark-haired man.

“I just have more experience,” Kieran replied and reached to mess with the boy's hair a little.

"Don't worry practice makes perfect. Speaking of perfect," he tilted his head slightly backwards, "What is happening to my hair right now?"

The improvised hairdresser gave out an exasperated sigh.

“I don’t know!” she shouted in defeat. Then she took another flower crown that was hanging from her elbow and ceremoniously dropped it over Kieran’s head. It fell right over his face and into his eyes, blinding him for a moment.

The other two kids burst out laughing.

“He looks like a scarecrow!” the boy cried.

The make-shift hairdresser puffed her cheeks in anger.

“What did you just say!?”

She reached to grab tor the boy, but he was quicker, jumping on his feet and running away.

“Get here! Is this how you treat your sister?!” she shrieked, chasing after him, but stopped the moment, she noticed Kym and Lauren, slowly approaching them. The boy noticed the duo too. He took the chance and ran straight for them, half for safety, half to brag, as he raised the hand with the flower crown.

“Kym! Hey Kyyym! Look what I did!” he laughed.

“Sup, kiddo. Long time no see,” Kym waved at him and then bent over to access the flower crown.

“Great work. Is that for me?”

“Na-ah,” the boy shook his head.

“Common!” Kym complained, ”I’ll trade you for a watermelon!”

“No one else watermelon in winter, just you!” the boy replied.

“Not true!” Kym shouted back.

“Right Lauren?”

The cop in question just shrugged, smiling innocently.

Kym stuck her tongue out at her and then turned to Kieran.

“Rude. Oh, hi Lola! Kieran,” she waved at the archivist.

“What are you doing with our precinct’s archivist?"

“Nothing! We’re just playing,” the girl replied.

“Right, sir?"

Kieran nodded, removing the crown from his eyes.

"I presume you know these kids, Sergeant," he asked.

"Yup!” the girl Lola replied instead of Kym.

“We used to be neighbours before we moved downtown last year.”

Lauren frowned. Downtown wasn’t the safest area – especially at night. It was also on the other side of the city. and these kids looked like they were here alone

Kym must have come to that realization too because a dark shadow crossed her face for a moment, though it was quickly replaced by her usual mocking expression.

“Then what are you doing here so late?” she asked. “Does your mom know you’re here?”

That single question brought unmitigated horror to the kids’ faces.

“Mom’s gonna kill us,” the boy whispered.

“We just wanted to see the flowers!” his sister added.

“We didn’t do anything wrong!”

She threw herself at Kym, hanging herself at her waist.

“Can you come home with us and tell mom, we were with you? She won’t be so angry if she thought we were!”

“Let me think…” Kym scratched her chin and looked at Lauren. For a moment, her look became a bit serious again and almost apologetic. Lauren just nodded at her. It would be better if they go with the kids. Safer.

Kym smiled at her and then looked down at the kids.

“Y’know what?” she asked.

“Alright. Me and officer Sinclair will take you home. **But only this time. Next time, you’ll be on your own**.”

The kids clapped their hands and laughed with relief.

“I’m still not giving you my crown though,” the boy warned Kym.

 **"You wound me, sir,"** Kym sighed theatrically.

“I’m sacrificing my free time and honour for you...”

Lauren chuckled when she noticed Kieran did the same. Their eyes met for a brief moment, but the Kieran looked away and stood up.

“If you don’t mind, I’ll go with you **. I have some errands to run in that part of the city,** so I’m headed in the same direction anyway.”

Lauren paused at his obvious lie. Then she realized his flat was situated in that area. He just didn’t want Kym to know where he lived. Weird but understandable.

“Besides, this little princess,” he added as he lifted the still sleepy girl off the ground.

“Is not going to go far on her own.”

Kym shrugged her shoulders.

“Sure, why not? But-”

She reached to him and snatched the crown off his head.

“-I’m taking this!”

She put the crown on her head without much protest from Kieran and whirled around pointing at the kids.

“Alright, peasants!” she shouted, “Let’s get moving!”

"We're not a peasant!" the hair-dresser girl protested but ran after Kym.

“We’re princesses!”

“But I’m a queen! So, I outrank you,” Kym replied.

“You stole that!”

 **“No, I didn't**! Kieran doesn't mind, do you?!”

“Not really,” Kieran shrugged and turned back to Lauren.

**“You look very royal.”**

"Hehe," Kym grinned ear to ear.

"Waht do you think, Lauren? Am I the prettiest queen in the whole world?"

 _Beautiful_.

The memory along with an image of a boy with white hair came out of nowhere and stung just enough for Lauren to lose her breath more a second.

_Beautiful._

_No, Lauren, no time for that._

She pushed the htought aside and smiled at Kym.

 **“You're the pretties bride in the whole city,** ” she said.

"But let's go, before we freeze here."

***

The walk to the kids' house took quite while - they lived at the other end of the city after all. The kids' enthusiasm to peek into every single shop display on the way was not helping either, nor did Kym’s and surprisingly enough Kieran's willingness to comply with such antics. Lauren was pretty sure that if she hadn’t been there, they’d return home no sooner than by sunrise.

The only stops she allowed were at a greengrocer’s and a small cake shop which was still open at that ungodly hour. In the later, Kieran bought kids some sweets and in the former Kym made good use of the large basket from the daisies and filled it with three large watermelons and some other fruits for the kids. After that, they finally headed home– Kym and the two livelier kids in the front, and Lauren and Kieran following them at lowlier pace.

It was a nice, quiet stroll. Unfortunately for Lauren, that meant a lot of time for reminiscing.

The image of flowers hurt – a small pang of guilt and nostalgia whenever she looked at them. It wasn't much, but still, more than she expected it to hurt after all these years.

 _If they at least weren't made into crowns,_ she thought. The universe had surely funny ways to make her miserable.

On the other hand, there was the image of Kieran - helping the kids to make their flower crowns, buying them sweets. and now…

She stole a sidelong glance at the man walking next to her.

The girl in his arms had awoken for a moment when they were in the cake shop, but now she was soundly asleep. Her face was leaning against his chest mouth slightly ajar, eyes shut tight. Her tiny fists clung to Kieran’s coat even as she slept. From time to time she moved around, which made the crown in her hair move a bit to the side, but Kieran put it back in place every single time. They looked almost like a pair of siblings – Kieran and her. Or - had Kieran been a bit older - a father and a daughter. A good caring father who takes care of his little girl and makes her flower crowns… An idea so ridiculous, yet somewhat endearing. And it hurt a bit to realize it was not true.

Kieran noticed her staring and a charming smile curled the corners of his lips up.

“Jealous?”

“Of what?” Lauren replied sharply,” That she gets to be carried? I have been there, and **you are not that comfortable.”**

“You were also struggling a whole deal more than she does, my dear,” Kieran replied in a cocky but quiet tone. Kym was far away for her not to hear them, but they were still people around and he didn’t want to wake up the girl either.

“But I meant the flower crown. You looked almost devastated when Kym snatched mine. Have you perhaps hoped to receive it yourself?"

Lauren scoffed.

“You’re with the APD for a few days and already playing a detective.”

“When you spent too much time around inquisitive nosy people, their habits rubbed off you a little, darling.”

“Well, unfortunately, the same cannot be said about the skills. I’m afraid you misread the situation, Mr White.”

He cocked his head.

“Oh, common darling, there's no shame in admitting you want one. If you're a good girl I'll make you one too…”

“Not funny,” Lauren punched him in the back, not too strong that he would drop the girl, but enough to let him know what she thinks of his offer.

"Oh common, Lauren! I think it would suit you,” Kieran teased.

And didn’t lie.

_If he at least told it as a lie…_

_Beautiful._

**_Crown, not you._ **

_Distractions. All just distractions._

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

“You should get some sleep, subordinate. You’re disillusioned. And too chatty.”

"My apologies," Kieran replied in still flirtatious, but somewhat more serious tone as he adjusted the girl’s weight in his shoulder

“But so you know, only my queen should call me that,” he added.

“or perhaps a princess.“

Lauren scoffed.

“Oh my, is the great Purple Hyacinth acknowledging monarchy?" she asked in a whisper.

“I was talking about “my” queen, not the queen,” he replied.

"So, Kym?"

"Kym?"

"You gave her the crown fifteen minutes ago, remember?"

“Oh, so you _are_ jealous.”

“Kieran I swear to god if you don’t stop I’ll…”

“Shoot me?”

"No," Lauren's eyes sparked dangerously, "I'll tell Kym you proclaimed her your queen and you said you were her humble subordinate. And believe when I say, she takes no mercy on her potential suitors.”

Kieran looked up at the figure of Kym goofing around with the other two kids.

“Alright I forfeit,” he admitted.

“Not sure what sort of injury would that cost me.”

“Excuse me?”

“ **Nothing.”**

"Liar."

The girl in Kieran's arm moved around and opened one sleepy eye at him.

"Mom?" she asked sleepily.

"Are we home yet?"

Kieran hesitated.

“No, princess,” he replied his dark grin melting into a caring smile.

“But don’t worry, we’ll be soon.”

His sudden change of tone surprised Lauren. It was soft, almost whispery and warm. She only heard him speak this quietly when he tended her wound after the Flemmings operation.

The girl seemed satisfied with the response. She nodded and closed her eyes again.

Kieran looked up at Lauren.

“What’s with that smirk?”

“Oh,” Lauren just then realized she was smiling.

“ **Nothing, _mom,_ ”** she teased.

Kierna made a long unimpressed face at her.

 **"It’s still better than a subordinate**.”

“Should I start calling you _mom_ then?”

“You have some kinks, dear officer.”

“Really?” she deadpanned back. Why had she thought this conversation would go any other direction?

Kieran chuckled and shook his head.

“Let's stick with a subordinate for now. I grew accustomed to it.”

***

When they reached the kid’s house, they were welcomed by a rather stressed-out mother of the two and aunt of the third, who in one breath managed to chastise the kids for running around for who knows how long and wasting Sergeant Kym’s precious time and to thank Kym and her friends for bringing the kids home safely.

Kym only grinned and handed off the basket with a bold lie of: **_“My mother sends this.”_** and then she got stuck in the hallway, talking with the woman about what's new for another quarter an hour. Realizing this was not their place, Kieran and Lauren excused themselves and went outside.

Once on the street, Lauren stopped at the edge of the sidewalk and turned her face up to the night sky. This part of the city wasn't very decorated – only in a few windows there were flower pots to be seen, though there was a wreath hanging on almost every door, but not much else. After all, the flower festival wasn't something everyone could afford. That’s probably why those kids took their time to go all the way to the other side of the town – to see the prettier things. Remember how it was when they lived in a nicer house with both parents...

Kieran stopped beside her and then sat down on the curb.

"Wanna join?"

Lauren looked at him questioningly.

“No. Problems with legs, grandpa?”

Kieran scoffed.

“Just looking at the world from a different perspective, that’s all.”

He picked a stray daisy that got stuck on his coat and held it up in his fingers, studying it.

“And what sort of perspective is that?" Laurer asked. Kieran threw her a sidelong glance.

"One lets me truly admire your assets, darling. Among other things.”

That comment earned him a violent slap on the head.

“Hey! Don’t mess with my hair!”

“Oh, common! You already look like a mess!” Lauren laughed.

"Don't be reductionist, dear officer," Kieran corrected her with that cocky smile of his, "The precise term is a hot mess."

“Oh, god,” Lauren rolled her eyes in reply.

For a moment, they stood there in silence. The first to speak was Kieran.

“There’s some development regarding my report,” he said quietly, eyes cast down on the flower.

“Something I should know?" Lauren asked.

“Was there ever a thing you thought you didn’t ought to?”

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

“I wanted to talk to you about it before, but you evaded me.”

_Was it just her, or did he sound accusatory?_

“ **I did not evade you.** I was just trying to keep up your cover. Besides, you were the one who left early with William today.”

“He was the one who asked me if he can accompany me. And I didn't want to blow my cover, by refusing, darling."

Lauren stopped herself from rolling her eyes again.

 _He’s not worth it,_ she reminded herself.

“Speaking of which, what did you two talk about?” she asked out loud. She forgot about it for a while, but now it was brought up, she again felt uneasy about the fact her childhood friend and Kieran spent time together. ~~For more than one reason, but that was not important.~~

Kieran shook one finger at her as a warning.

"A-a-a, officer, our rules. What I discussed with Lieutenant Hawkes was a private business."

“What kind of private business could you discuss with someone you knew a week and a half?”

“You’d be surprised,” he replied with a mysterious grin spreading across his face, “But your darling Lieutenant haven't given much information about himself - more of advice."

“On what?”

“Private business.” He sighed wistfully

Lauren eyed Kieran from head to toe.

_Alright then. Play mysterious. **It's none of my bsiness or interest anyways.**  
_

"I just wanted to make sure he didn't have any odd questions or comments... regarding the two of us."

Kieran hesitated for a moment, before catching on.

“You mean if he’s suspicious of us as Lune?” he asked.

“No,” Lauren replied sarcastically,” if he knows about our secret love affair.”

The flower in Kieran's hand stops whirling for a moment.

"Don't worry," Kieran replied, first with hesitation, but his voice gained its typical tone again, " **I keep my love for you too well hidden from prying eyes of the cruel world.** And nothing he said suggested he suspects me or you of any of our late-night vigilante performance either."

Lauren allowed herself to let out a small breath of relief. William was the last person she wanted to know about the whole Lune business – as much for her sake as for his own. Maybe because of that relief she decided to ignore the oddly worded and unnecessary lie in Kieran's words.

“So are you going to tell me what you wanted to discuss with me?”

“Oh, right,” Kieran turned to her, but at that moment a boost of laughter, accompanied by goodbyes and farewells came from the inside of the house.

The duo looked around at the half-opened door of the house.

“Kym’s probably finished,” Kieran noted.

“And that means we're done here for now, too.”

He moved around and raised his left arm in Lauren’s direction.

“A hand, darling?”

“Really, grandpa?” she asked, but still reached her right hand to him expecting him to grab her by her forearm and use her as leverage to stand up.

Instead, his fingers only brushed against hers lightly and he held her hand up un his palm.

“What are you-” she turned to him, surprised to see him slip the solitary daisy bettwen her fingers.

“This one is a bit damaged,” Kieran said softly as he twisted the stem around her indes finger, careful not to tear it or scratch her skin.

“But it is the only I was left with. And since you don’t seem to like flower crowns that much...”

He twisted the stem around her index finger once more to fix the flower in place and tied a knot on the other side.

“There, a nice flower ring,”

He let go of her hand and looked up. Their eyes met. Lauren’s eyes were often described as pensive – a description she hated more than anything. But Kieran's eyes, at that very moment, were just that. Pensive, wistful, solemn. Like a frozen mountain lake. Beautiful and still on the surface but hiding life deeply, deep inside, unknown secrets...

She could see her reflection in those eyes. The lamp above her was creating a halo around her head made of light, golden and pure.

It took a moment for Lauren to realize she hasn’t moved, her hand still hanging in the same semi outstretched position Kieran left it in.

“Ehm...”

“Oh, Kieran is this a proposal!?” Kym appeared behind Lauren’s shoulder; her face brighter than any of the city laps.

“Jesus Christ, Kym!” Lauren jumped and whirled.

“What did I say about sneaking up on me?!”

“Well, well!” Kym noted amusedly, ignoring Lauren’s complaints.

“Someone’s flustered.”

"Though I must warn you, sir," she made a finger gun at Kieran.

"If you want to steal our precious Lauren from us, you first have to duel me!”

Lauren shoved her friend away wearing the most deadpan expression she could muster.

“Kym stop, it’s just a flower.”

“And a ring. So, Kieran, pistols or swords? Or spitting watermelon seeds? Pick your weapon.”

Lauren looked down at Kieran.

_Please don’t._

Kieran smiled at her and then turned to Kym in utter seriousness.

“I’m a man of class, Sergeant. **Obviously, the seeds**.”

Lauren rolled her eyes.

“You two are disgusting. And speaking of,” she added, hoping to derail the conversation to a more _normal_ topic.

“Where did you left the basket?”

“Oh, I let it with them, ”Kym replied.

"Hope you didn't need it for anything, Kieran.”

Kieran shrugged.

"Easy come easy go. But what about your watermelons?”

“I’ll buy some tomorrow before work. Which reminds me,” she stretched letting out a long yawn,"… that I should head home and get a good night rest. Tomorrow’s battle will be difficult.”

“Well, I wish you luck, m’lady,” Kieran bowed down to her dramatically as he stood up.

“And sweet dreams.”

And with that, he turned around and vanished in the darkness.

“You know I like him," Kym noted as she and Lauren started heading back home, " thought he could try to be less perfect or he'll become next William. And he could learn, which finger the ring belongs to.”

She shook her head and pointed at her ring finger.

“It’s in the bloody name of it.”

"Sure," Lauren replied absent-mindedly and hid the right hand behind her back.

“Also you two should just hit it off.”

“Kym!”

“What?! Don’t think I didn’t notice how you were looking at him holding that kid. You want him to have yo-”

“Kym I swear one more word, and I smash all your watermelons over Randall's desk and make it look like it was you.”

“Hey!”

***

When Lauren finally got home it was already long past midnight. She stood in her room, already changed into her nightgown, her hair undone. The small ring was still on her hand.

She examined it carefully.

Kieran was right, it wasn’t perfect. The flower was missing a few petals, but those that stayed were pristine white, only their ends died in dark pink.

She smiled for herself.

Something her mother told her a long time ago echoed in the depths of her mind.

_“Many boys will bring you flowers. But someday you'll meet a boy who will learn your favourite flower. Only that boy earns your heart."_

She shook her head. No, that was silly. The fact this was daisy not some other flower just a coincidence. _And the ring was after all a distraction._

She put the ring down on her desk and picked up a note Kieran slipped into her hand while tying the flower ring around her finger. She had to give him props for his stealth. Even she didn’t notice the note until he was gone.

She opened it. Inside was the basic information regarding the report he had to write for Phantom Scythe, jotted down in points with a short message at the end.

_Come to archives tomorrow by 6._

The smile vanished from her face as she sighed.

 _Flower crowns and flower rings… nothing but distraction_.

_Back to reality, Lauren, you have work to do._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, Lauren, the flower ring was completely an excuse for Kieran to hand you the note he could have given you at any point before that, not the other way around. (Sorry, I shouldn't be roasting characters for dumb stuff I made them think or do. Like I made kieran sit on cold pavement in the middle of january - that cannot be good for him.)  
> Also fun fact, ring on the index finger symbolizes leadership and so you can often see historical pictures of monarchs wearing a ring exactly on their right index finger. Kieran is a aware of htis fact, Lauren and Kym are not.  
> The quote from Lauren's mom is actually a quote from the book Six of Crows from Leigh Bardugo (great book, fantasy YA if you haven't read it yet) - and yes it's a bit hamfisted there, but I like itso there.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter and have a nice day <3


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